A Tracy Secret II: Learning Curve
by andrewjameswilliams
Summary: One month after his first transformation Alan learns that being a werewolf and a Tracy is more complicated than he ever imagined. Chapter 4 up.
1. Chapter 1

**A Tracy Secret II: Learning Curve**

Authors Note: This is a sequel to A Tracy Secret and takes place one month after the events of that story.

**

* * *

Chapter One**

**Beach**

**Tracy Island**

Alan Tracy sat in a quiet, thoughtful manner on one of the quieter beaches of his island home. The gentle wind blowing across the island from the Pacific Ocean ruffled his blond hair as he looked thoughtfully out to sea. The sun was low in sky as evening was coming, casting deep shadows and it was tonight that he was concerned about.

Tonight was the first night of the full moon, the second since the werewolf part of him had become active after his fifteenth birthday. Tonight he would once again transform from a human into a giant humanoid version of a wolf, and while he liked transforming like his father and brothers he knew he needed to learn control. Just like they had learned control, how to only transform when they wanted to, not whenever the full moon appeared. _I hope control is not too difficult to learn,_ he thought knowing that the learning curve would start soon.

The sound of someone softly walking through the sand caught his superior to normal hearing but he didn't sense another werewolf. So whoever was approaching couldn't be one of his immediate family. After a moment whoever it was came to a stop and Alan looked over and smiled when he saw that it was Tin-Tin.

"Hi Tin-Tin," he said.

"Hi Alan," Tin-Tin replied sitting down on the sand beside him. "You seemed to be pretty intent looking out to sea there. Anything wrong?"

"No nothing wrong," Alan answered. "I was just thinking about tonight."

"You're worrying about the fact that you're going to transform again," Tin-Tin asked wondering if that was what was bothering Alan. Though he seemed to be well adjusted to the fact that he was a werewolf. Every part of her told her that Alan was perfectly at ease with that reality and even that he seemed to actually enjoy it. So why would the prospect of transforming again bother him?

"No," Alan replied with a smile. "That's not what worries me. I'm thinking about what Dad will be endeavouring to teach me how to do tonight and for the next two nights."

"And what is that?"

"Something every werewolf has to learn after the first transformation cycle has passed as mine has," Alan answered. "Control how to stop ourselves from transforming unless we consciously choose to do so and how to change back when we want to. At present I change into my werewolf form the moment the full moon rises and remain in that form until it goes down. That can't continue."

"That is true," Tin-Tin agreed. "You're worried about how it will go tonight."

"Precisely," Alan replied. "Something tells me that learning to control the transformation is going to be much more difficult than it sounds."

"That is probably true. But it's also probably easier than you think. However hard it is Alan I'm sure that you will master it."

"How can you be sure Tin-Tin?"

"Because I know you," Tin-Tin replied with a smile. "You can do anything that you put your mind to Alan." Alan looked at Tin-Tin and returned the smile and gently took her hand in his own.

"Thanks Tin-Tin I needed that."

"You're welcome," Tin-Tin replied squeezing Alan's hand, Alan returned the affectionate gesture and Tin-Tin was – not for the first time – conscious of how strong his grip was. And the fact that like all werewolves Alan was much stronger than her, having easily twice the strength a normal human his size and build would have.

"Were you looking for me for something Tin-Tin," Alan asked breaking the few moments of comfortable silence that had descended between them.

"Yes I was sent to find you," Tin-Tin replied. "Mom said that dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes so I was to find you and bring you back to the villa. I had a feeling you would be out here on the beach somewhere."

A grin appeared on her face as she saw Alan's blue eyes practically light up at the mention that food was almost ready. It was such a typical reaction, especially for a Tracy. One of the many things that were subtly different in werewolves to normal humans was their metabolism; they got hungry more quickly than a normal people – like herself – did.

"Then we had better go back to the villa then," Alan said releasing Tin-Tin's hand and standing up before holding out his hand to help her up.

"Yes we should," Tin-Tin agreed accepting the offered hand and allowing Alan to help her back up onto her feet. Alan smiled and formed his right arm into a loop into which Tin-Tin slid he arm into, and then they began walking heading back to the villa.

**

* * *

Alan's Room**

**A Few Hours Later**

Alan looked up from his computer screen when he abruptly felt a familiar tingling in his head and a faint buzzing in his right ear which faced the door. After a moment he faintly heard the sound of footsteps coming to a stop outside his room, a second before someone knocked for admittance.

"Come in," he called. The door opened and his father poked his head in.

"It's sunset Alan. The full moon will be up in just over half an hours time," Jeff said walking up to his youngest son. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I can be Dad," Alan admitted saving what he had been doing and closing down the computer before turning to look at his father.

"It's not as hard as you think," Jeff said reassuringly. "It will probably take one or two days for you to get it, it always does, but its relatively easy to control. Just learning to ignore the instinct that's screaming at you to transform is the hard bit. As it is you'll always get partial change."

"Partial change what do you mean by that Dad?"

"Just when you go to bed some aspects of the werewolf show just before you go to sleep and stay there for awhile," Jeff replied.

"Like?"

"It varies with individuals," Jeff explained. "Generally eyes change colour, your hair turns into fur and you get a little bit of fur down your spine. What happens after that varies with the individual but it's never anywhere near a full transformation."

"And it only happens on full moon nights," Alan questioned wanting to be sure he understood.

"Yes. The change only really shows when you're about to go to sleep and you relax," Jeff answered. "Though it can show with strong emotions as well especially with anger. Though when the wolf shows with emotions it usually just in the eyes and your voice gets a bit deeper."

Alan nodded in understanding. It made sense that the werewolf part of them would show visibly from time-to-time in certain situations. Especially during the period of the full moon as it was very close to surface so to speak. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the light through his bedroom window change, get darker as the sun sunk below the horizon. Almost immediately he felt the sensation he had first experienced a month before. A strange warmth deep inside him, at the very core of his being along with a strange but not unpleasant tingle of anticipation that spread outwards from that ever so slowly increasing warmth deep inside.

"Alan," Jeff asked seeing Alan stiffen slightly, even as he felt the familiar sensation himself but put it out of his mind.

"It's nothing Dad," Alan replied. "Just this feeling is a bit distracting."

"I know it can be but that can be your first lesson," Jeff answered. "How to ignore the feeling. You won't get rid of it entirely so don't even try."

"How? How do I do that Dad?" Alan asked. Jeff thought for a moment, trying to remember how he had taught Alan's brothers how to ignore the feeling of the approaching full moon.

"Close your eyes Alan," he said at last. "Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths but don't open your eyes again."

Alan raised an eyebrow but closed his eyes and took a series of very deep, calming breaths. Seeing his youngest son following his instructions Jeff smiled slightly.

"Keep taking deep breaths. In your mind picture the feeling, tell me what you see."

Alan kept his eyes tightly closed and continued taking deep breaths, all the while focusing slightly on the feeling inside him. Slowly deep within the recesses of his mind a picture began to form. A picture of a small amber sphere – like a small star. It pulsed softly, giving off waves of light.

"I see a sphere," he said softly his voice seemingly far away, almost like the world didn't exist anymore. "Like a small star amber in colour, it's pulsing softly giving off waves of light."

"Now imagine a barrier appearing around the sphere," his father's voice answered like his own seeming to come from very far away. "Containing the waves, focus on building the barrier."

Focusing on the sphere he saw in his mind Alan imagined a second sphere, transparent and larger appearing around the amber one. Slowly he built it encasing the small amber star in a larger mantle of transparent material; the waves of light hit the outer sphere and shattered, refracting back in upon themselves.

"I think I've done it," he said softly.

"Good. Now push the image away, push it right to the back of your mind." Alan was faintly aware of himself nodding, though like when he spoke or heard it seemed light years away. Slowly he pushed the image away, making it recede into the mental darkness, becoming a distant point of light.

"Good now open your eyes and breathe normally," his father's voice instructed.

Alan opened his eyes and reality burst back in on him with breathtaking suddenness that momentarily stole the breath from his lungs. But something was different now; the feeling was still there but muted, distant, easy to ignore. He looked up to see Jeff smiling warmly, proudly at him.

"See that wasn't so hard was it," Jeff said as he waited for Alan to get his breath back.

"No it wasn't," Alan replied at last. "But I am guessing that it won't be so easy blocking the transformation from happening." Jeff just smiled.

"You'll see," he replied. "Now then we better head out there isn't long now until the moon rises."

Alan nodded and stood up; he couldn't help but be nervous considering what was coming. What he was going to be learning on how to control the part of him that had only so recently awoken. Though he knew Tin-Tin and his father were right, he would be able to learn to control his transformation.

In fact he guessed it was a must skill to learn for his kind in the modern world. In today's world they couldn't all live in remote areas or have out of the way places to go when the full moon appeared and they felt the instinct to transform from fit-looking humans into eight foot tall nine hundred odd pound anthropomorphic wolves. He couldn't help but wonder how werewolves who lived in cities and other built up urban areas managed, given that even after learning control they still had to transform from time to time. _Maybe they go on holidays when the three month mark comes around,_ he thought, _or get in cars and drive to quiet areas outside of town where they can transform without potentially frightening anyone. If I ever meet another werewolf who lives in a town or city I will have to ask, just for curiosity sake._

"Lead on then Dad," he said at last. Jeff smiled again and nodded, then led the way out of the room. Alan followed him, ignoring – to the best of his abilities – the butterflies of nerves fluttering around in his stomach. Tonight was certainly going to be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Alan followed his father away from the villa complex, onto a path that was hidden so well that until recently he hadn't known it was there at all. The path led away into and through the jungle that dominated much of the tropical paradise that they all called home. He kept quiet as he followed a few paces behind his father, his thoughts completely dominated by what was coming. He didn't feel the need to talk at all as they walked.

After a few minutes of companionable silence the jungle path gave way to a clearing on the farside of the mountain on which the villa complex had been constructed. Ahead was the entrance to a cave. Without needing direction from his father Alan headed into that cave with his father. Just inside the cave entrance was a door, after opening the door Alan entered a room, a room that looked like a gym's changing room and had a very similar purpose.

"You better get undressed Alan," Jeff said. "Before the full moon appears and we start your lesson."

"That's a good idea Dad," Alan replied in agreement starting to undo the buttons on his short sleeved shirt. "If I don't get this controlling transformation thing down first time and do change then I don't want to wreck any clothes."

"It wouldn't matter if you did," Jeff answered with a smile. "It wouldn't be the first time during lessons that someone has wrecked there clothes because they couldn't stop the transformation. Took about three attempts when I was teaching Virgil and the first two times he ended up transforming, wrecking what clothes he'd been wearing in the process." Alan chuckled slightly as he took his shirt off.

"So that's why he needed a few new pairs of jeans that year," Alan said still chuckling. "Well I don't want to repeat that mistake. I still remember how uncomfortable my clothes got the first time I turned into a werewolf."

"I'll wait for you outside Alan."

"Ok Dad."

**

* * *

Tracy Villa**

Gordon stood quiet on his private balcony looking out at the ocean in the direction the full moon would rise from. It was almost time, he could feel it as surely as he breathed, he knew instinctively that there were only a few minutes now till moonrise. As moonrise got closer he found his thoughts increasingly turning to his younger brother, from here he'd observed Alan leave the villa complex with dad to begin his lessons on transformation control.

After a moment he heard someone knock on the door.

"Come in," he called and heard his bedroom door opened. He didn't turn around as he heard footsteps approach, though he could tell from the rhythm of the steps who it was.

"Are you alright Gordon," Tin-Tin asked from behind him.

"I'm fine," Gordon answered. "Just thinking about Alan."

"I guessed as much," Tin-Tin replied with a knowing smile as she came to stand beside him. "Do you think he'll be alright."

"Yes I think so," Gordon said with a smile. "It's just he has to learn a difficult skill tonight and over the next two nights."

"Is controlling the change difficult," Tin-Tin asked hoping she would get an answer. Whereas she like her parents wouldn't normally ask the Tracy's anything about their werewolf nature, it was something very private to them she just wanted to know. For a moment Gordon didn't answer then he spoke.

"Yes and no," Gordon answered at last looking over at Tin-Tin and smiling. "In away its similar to how you and your father had to learn how to control your abilities. Tell me Tin-Tin is there anytime where you feel reflexively like using your powers."

"Sometimes," Tin-Tin replied. "It is always a temptation to use our psychic gifts. But I've always been taught not to unless I absolutely have to. Though control is…difficult at times."

"It's much the same with us," Gordon answered. "In our case we don't have to learn control until after the first cycle. That control is quite difficult to learn at first because you have to repress your own instinct. Like you have to repress your instinct to use your power."

"I understand."

Gordon smiled at her again then looked back at the Pacific Ocean visible beyond the palm trees that was softly blowing in the light breeze blowing across the island from the east. A patch of the horizon was glowing slightly brighter and with deceptive speed the full moon began to rise, bathing the island in its silver light. Tin-Tin watched as it reflected off the swimming pools visible on the sundeck below, making the softly rippling water glimmer with platinum ripples.

"How long till…" she started to ask only for Gordon to cut her off.

"A few minutes," Gordon said.

"I wish I could be there with him."

"I know. So do I. We all do but this is one thing Alan and Dad must do alone." Tin-Tin nodded in understanding that it was a private father and son thing.

"The others are organising a little pool tournament in the games room Gordon," she said. "Do you want to play."

"Yeah I'll come and play," Gordon answered grateful that there would be some distraction to stop him thinking about Alan. He could always ask Alan how it had gone when he saw him in the morning.

"Then lets go," Tin-Tin said and turned and walked away, the movement sending a wave of her perfume to Gordon's sensitive nose. Gordon repressed the instinct to wrinkle his nose; he never did like the smell of the perfume Tin-Tin and her mother were fond of. After a moment he followed her, but not before casting a final look at the rising full moon. _Good luck bro,_ he thought, thinking of Alan and feeling the familiar urge to transform pulling at him, but he ignored it with practised ease. Then he turned his back on the rising full moon and went after Tin-Tin.

**

* * *

Changing Room**

**That Same Time**

Totally naked – and feeling only a little self-conscious for being so – Alan stepped out of the changing room into the clearing. It was getting brighter as the moonlight began to shine down upon him.

"Good timing Alan," Jeff said from where he was standing waiting for him. "There is barely a minute to go. Do you want to stay standing as we do this or do you want to sit down?"

"I would prefer to stand Dad," Alan replied with a grin. "Who knows what creepy crawlies are in the undergrowth or moving through the grass."

"Good point. Now then Alan I want you to close your eyes and repeat what we did in your room. I want you to look inside yourself and find the sphere you told me about."

Alan nodded and closed his eyes again, before taking a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly. Slowly his awareness of the world around him blurred and faded, the sounds of island wildlife and the soft gentle rustle of the wind in the trees, normally acutely picked up by his hearing faded away into the far distance. He was again alone in a dark place, ahead of him a small light grew and he focused on it until it filled his awareness and there it was. The pulsing amber sphere surrounded by the barrier he had created earlier.

"I see it Dad," he said as before his voice seeming to come from very far away.

"Good," his father's voice answered. "In a moment you will see the light begin to brighten and expand. Focus on the barrier you made earlier, try and keep that barrier in place."

"Ok Dad."

Even as he spoke he felt energy begin to flood into his body. It swept through the darkness towards the glowing imprisoned sphere as a wave of diffuse, nebulous silver light. The sphere absorbed it like a sponge before brightening until it was a bright amber light, the waves of energy begin emitted stopped, merging with the sphere as it began to expand.

It reached the barrier with astonishing speed waves of light and warmth assaulting the barrier. The barrier began to flicker, cracks starting to appear across its surface allowing faint bits of energy to get through, loosing cohesion quickly. As instructed he focused on the barrier, reinforcing it additional invisible layer around it. It held for a moment then began failing again. With even more force he focused on barrier, maintaining it, containing for now the maelstrom of energy and light that was trying to get through.

* * *

Jeff watched Alan closely as his youngest son went about a very deep and personal battle to contain the werewolf. Faint beads of sweat were visible on Alan's forehead, his fists clenched at his sides, his features a mask of concentration as he fought to keep the energy inside that brought about the transformation contained.

"Just a few more minutes Alan," he said softly as Alan began to visibly shake with the effort he was expending. Overhead the moon was coming into full view, its light and power coming to full intensity. "It will stop soon. Just hold it together for a few more minutes."

"I, I can't," Alan gasped back shaking more visibly now, the beads of sweat condensing forming rivulets running down his features.

"You can," Jeff replied. "I know it's hard, but you can do it."

* * *

Listening to the distant voice of his father Alan focused every bit of strength, every last bit of determination he had on holding the barrier together. The pulsing light and waves of energy was so intense that despite his best efforts the barrier continued to weaken. Glowing cracks rippled across the surface of the transparent barrier around the amber sphere.

He tried to seal them, but the cracks only reopened again, and he heard himself cry out in dismay as the barrier collapsed.

* * *

Jeff flinched slightly when Alan cried out even as Alan crumbled onto his hands and knees. He knew Alan hadn't quite succeed in containing the werewolf, even before Alan's normally blond hair darkened and changed texture. Becoming dark grey fur. Alan had been so close; he would probably be able to withstand the immense pressure tomorrow night.

A ripple visibly ran down Alan's spine and as it did so a line of dark grey fur appeared.

"Its okay Alan I know you tried," he said reassuringly as Alan's transformation picked up pace. His youngest son straightened before standing up, visibly getting taller and bigger, bones and muscles changing lengthening and growing at superhuman speed even as the dark grey fur grew over his whole body. Alan's hands and feet broadened and lengthened reflecting the same massive proportions he was taking on, long sharp claws growing outwards from where his finger and toenails normally were.

Finally Alan's face began to morph, ears becoming triangular and shifting position to the top of his head, even as his face changed. His nose and upper lip merging together before growing outwards along with his lower jaw, forming into a long muzzle filled with sharp cutting teeth and a long tongue. With a final ripple of growth in his muscles and fur the transformation ceased. Alan's human form had completely vanished, instead of a tall, athletic young man stood the eight foot tall, nine hundred pound, seemingly androgynous form of a werewolf.

Alan opened his now amber eyes and looked down his muzzle at his father.

_"Sorry Dad," _he said telepathically as he couldn't talk aloud when in werewolf form. A bitter feeling of failure stabbing at him for failing to prevent his transformation. He couldn't help but feel that he had let his father down.

"It's alright Alan you have nothing to be ashamed about or sorry for," Jeff replied inclining his head slightly to look into Alan's warm amber werewolf eyes with his own hazel still human eyes. "I know you tried. It's a very hard skill to learn. I've never known one of our kind yet who has mastered control over the transformation in one night."

_"I almost had it didn't I?"_ Alan asked relief that his father wasn't angry or disappointed settling on him like a cool, soothing balm.

"Yes you did," Jeff replied. "To tell you the truth I am impressed that you held on as long as you did. Most of your brothers didn't, especially on the first night. Trust me you'll be able to do better tomorrow night. It gets easier the more times you try to do it, like all things do."

_"I guess your right Dad. Now what do I do though? I would like to go for a run but its boring doing that on my own."_ Jeff raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you think you'll be on your own," he said with a soft smile. "Wait here."

Realising what his father intended Alan nodded and watched as his father went back into the changing room. He realised that Dad was not going to let him be on his own tonight, there was actually nothing worse to a werewolf than to be alone, though being hungry came close. Dad was going to transform as well, and then the two of them could run through the forest that dominated the bulk of the island. Exploring all the different runs that there were, some of them which lead to places that were very difficult for a human to get to but which were no problem to a werewolf.

The realisation that he was going to get to spend a good few hours alone with his father pleased him greatly. It wasn't often that he really had a chance to spend some quality time with his father. With himself away at boarding school most of the year and Dad perennially busy either with Tracy Industries or International Rescue they just didn't get chance.

After a few moments Jeff reappeared from the changing room though he was now completely naked and despite himself Alan couldn't help but be impressed by how fit his father looked. Muscles were toned and well defined not to mention quite big, like his brothers his father looked like a mix of a bodybuilder and an Olympic athlete. Some of that came from the fact that he was a werewolf, Alan himself looked a bit like that though he had yet to bulk up, the bulk of his fathers and brothers builds came from the fact that they worked out a lot. _Probably end up looking like that myself soon enough since I like going to the gym,_ Alan thought, _and werewolves are natural athletes._

Jeff turned in place to look at Alan and smiled.

"I'll be right with you Alan," he said and closed his eyes, concentrating on lowering his internal barriers.

_"Ok Dad,"_ Alan replied watching closely as his father began to change, his black hair changing consistency to fur even as a ripple ran down his spine and a line of jet black fur appeared as the ripple passed. Not for the first time Alan wondered how there could be so many variations in fur colour in one family, ranging from his fathers black to John's silver grey and everything in between. Though he had to admit that it certainly helped to determine who was who, as when in werewolf form they all tended to look the same.

He watched interested as his father transformed into a werewolf, he hadn't really seen a transformation from the perspective of an observer. Looking down at himself and watching his body morph didn't count, it was fascinating to observe and to also know that the transformation was completely painless – except for the first ever change. Unlike the werewolf transformations featured in popular horror movies which were always depicted as being extremely painful for whoever the poor person was who was turning into the bloodthirsty monster. _Not that we are monsters,_ Alan thought to himself, _though I admit we do look the part given we have sharp claws and teeth. I don't think I'll really understand where this idea that werewolves are beasts and monsters showing in popular horror comes from._

Alan was brought out of his thoughts by seeing his father's change completing itself. Jeff turned to face him and for a moment two pairs of amber eyes locked. A moment before the mental image of his father in human form smiling at him flashed through Alan's head.

_"Ready to go for a run Alan,"_ Jeff asked.

_"More than ready Dad,"_ Alan answered.

_"Is there any particular trail you feel like going on Alan?"_

_"Not really. I don't know many of the runs Dad. I've only really seen the ones that John and Gordon like to go on. Though I will admit I like those runs."_

_"True you haven't seen many of the other ones. Tell you what Alan why don't I show you all the other runs. Who knows we might find some new ones to go on, the island can be a big place after all."_ Alan sent a mental smile image to his father.

_"I would like that Dad."_

_"Then lets go."_

With that Jeff turned and started to move away at a light-jogging place. Alan followed, matching his fathers pace easily. They had only taken a few paces into the jungle when sudden bleeping sounds made them both jump. The bleeping sounds coming from the wristcoms that they still wore, Brains had designed them so that the straps would be able to expand with them when they changed into there werewolf forms and return to normal size when they turned back human. The bleeps coming from the wristcoms were an alert that a distress call was being received. Alan groaned which naturally given what form he was in came out as a growl.

_"Oh terrific,"_ he said. _"That alarm must have the worst timing on the planet. Guess this means that were not going to do what you said tonight Dad."_

_"On the contrary Alan,"_ Jeff replied. "_All your brothers are here they can deal with it, there is no need for me to go this time."_

_"Cool. So we can still explore all the trails?"_

_"Yes. Now come on we have some exploring to do."_

Alan sent a mental smile image to his farther and got one back in return, then Jeff started running. Picking up his pace considerably, Alan matched it as they raced into the forest, there eyes easily penetrating the deep darkness that swallowed the inside of the forest after dark. While there powerful yet incredibly agile forms made it easy to dodge debris, rocks and vault over fallen logs.

Pleasure filled Alan as he ran along with amazement at the power he had while a werewolf, he was still getting used to it and it would be along time before he really knew all his body's capabilities.

_"You okay Alan?"_

_"I'm fine Dad. Its just I'm still a little amazed at how this feels."_

_"That's understandable. You'll get used to it."_

_"Yeah. I most definitely will."_

**

* * *

Games Room**

**Tracy Villa, A Few Moments Earlier**

When the International Rescue alarm began wailing it was met with a chorus of groans from the assembled Tracy's. Together with Tin-Tin and Fermat they had organised themselves into three teams of two for a friendly little pool tournament and things had just been starting to get interesting.

"You know that alarm must have the worst timing on the planet," Gordon said unknowingly echoing what Alan had said to their father as he put his cue back in the storage rack. Virgil chuckled as he put his own cue away. He'd been paired up with Gordon and they had been next up after Scott and Tin-Tin finished their first game.

"You're not going to get any argument from me on that one Gordon," he said. "But there is nothing we can do about it."

"Very true Virg," Scott agreed as he and Tin-Tin put there own cues away. "Come on lets go and see who needs our help and where this time."

"Lead on then Scott," John said speaking for the first time. "Something tells me though that it's just going to be the four of us tonight."

Scott nodded in agreement. He knew full well that Alan probably had not been able to stop his transformation though he knew the sprout would have had a very good go at controlling it. If Alan had failed and changed into a werewolf then he knew that Dad would have changed with him. Dad had done it with all of them when he'd taught them control so there was no way on earth that Jeff Tracy would deny Alan that, that period when it was just the two of them together. He wouldn't let anything – even International Rescue – interfere with that personal time.

Without speaking he led the way out of the games room knowing that his brothers would be following though naturally there footsteps were silent. He also guessed that from the fact that could hear footsteps that Tin-Tin and Fermat were following as well.

* * *

It took only a few minutes to reach the office and inner sanctum of Jeff Tracy. Somehow Scott wasn't surprised to find the room already changed into command and control and Brains sat at the main console when they arrived. Not for the first time Scott wondered how Brains was able to get here so quick, it was one of life's little mysteries.

"What have we got Brains," he asked making Brains jump slightly.

"T…t…there's some young k…k…kids trapped in a…a…abandoned m…m…mine in the Colorado Rockies," Brains replied with his usual stammer, looking over at Scott and giving him a look of reproof for trying to give him a heart attack. Though it was a normal thing with the Tracy's, they moved with the silent, effortless stealth of a born predator almost all the time. Like there enhanced senses and superior strength it was one of the constant subtle reminders that despite appearances they weren't human, at least not as most people would define the term.

"I see," Scott said giving Brains a look of apology realising that he had startled their resident genius again. "Where in the Rockies are they?"

"T…t…there in q…q…quite a remote a…a…area. I h…h…have the c…c…co-ordinates. A…a…apparently its t…t…two boys t…t…twelve and nine r…r…respectively f…f…found the m…m…mine and decided to e…e…explore despite the w…w…warnings of there parents."

"Oh well boys will be boys," Scott said. "We sure gave Dad a few heart attacks when we were younger. Okay guys lets get out there and pull those two intrepid little explorers out of the trouble they've gotten themselves into."

As he spoke he headed for the alcove that had his portrait on it. His brothers followed heading for their own portraits. As they approached the front of the individual alcoves slid up revealing individual lift compartments. One by one the four older Tracy sons entered their lift compartments, then sensing that his brothers were waiting Scott spoke the coded command that would get the lifts moving, a familiar phrase that was normally spoken by their father.

"Thunderbirds Are Go," Scott said. His lift door closed cutting off his view of command and control and with a soft jolt and a humming of electromagnetic rails the lift began its journey to the silos.

Tin-Tin and Fermat watched as the Tracy boys disappeared off on another adventure to save someone in peril. Then they turned to look at each other as nearby Brains got to work on necessary launch preparations.

"W…w…what shall we d…d…do now?" Fermat asked. Tin-Tin considered for a few moments.

"We could go back to the games room," she suggested. "Continue with what we were doing, just play a few games of pool between ourselves. It's obvious its just going to be us two tonight, Alan would have been back by now if he'd been able to get control over his transformation."

"T…t…true," Fermat agreed. "Ok l…l…lets do that."

Tin-Tin smiled, then turned and led the way out of command and control. Fermat looked momentarily at Alan's portrait and wondered how his best friend was getting on, knowing that Alan had almost certainly changed into his werewolf form. Then he turned and followed Tin-Tin out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Rockies Mountains**

**Colorado, USA**

**Thirty Minutes Later**

Scott Tracy frowned in annoyance as he tried to scan the old abandoned mine and an equally long abandoned town with Thunderbird One's sensors. No matter what scanning profile he tried to use to locate exactly where inside the mine the two kids were nothing worked, the residual metal ores in the surrounding rock where disrupting his sensor scans too much, all the scans that came back from the mine were being reduced to meaningless electronic haze. _Great we'll be going in there blind,_ he thought with a sigh of irritation, _that's sure going to make our job that little bit tougher than it was already going to be._

Scott sighed again and changed his scan focus to a normal ground scan, first order of business now was to find somewhere for both Thunderbird One and Thunderbird Two to land. After a moment the scan results came back and Scott smiled. While the forest that dominated much of the Rockies was reclaiming the ghost town around the abandoned mine the main street was still relatively clear aside from grass and a few bushes here and there, tearing up through the decaying, disintegrating tarmac. There was plenty of room there for both Thunderbird machines to land. Indeed a small forestry service helicopter was already parked there; the scan revealed four people standing outside it. _Probably two of the forest service people and the parents of the kids, who are stuck in the mine,_ Scott thought as he manoeuvred Thunderbird One into position over his chosen landing site. As soon as he was happy with his position he moved the wings into landing position, lowered and locked the landing gear and then engaged the VTOL jets. Thunderbird One descended from her natural element and set down on the ground with the softest of shudders. Scott smiled and put almost all his 'birds systems in stand by mode though naturally he left the stealth systems and recently added anti-theft systems on full power. Then he flicked on the radio.

"Thunderbird One to base and Thunderbird Two," he said and immediately the communications screen lit up with the images of Brains and Virgil.

"G…g…go ahead Scott," Brains replied a millisecond before Virgil said the something just without the stutter.

"I've landed at the Danger Zone, the reception committee is waiting for me," Scott answered. "I'll have Mobile Control up and running in a few more minutes. What's your ETA Virgil?" For a moment Virgil did not respond his eyes directed down away from the camera pickup and Scott knew that he would be consulting his instruments. After a moment Virgil looked back up at the camera.

"I make my ETA at fifteen minutes Scott," Virgil said at last.

"F-A-B, Virgil," Scott acknowledged. "Brains I've noticed that there is a lot of residual metal ores in the rocks around the abandoned mine. It did on half screw up my scanners. Will it affect our communications at all?"

"Y…y…you will need to p…p…place signal b…b…boosters every ten m…m…metres when you're in the mine," Brains answered. "Transmission will be audio o…o…only and there might be a d…d…degree of w…w…white noise interference d…d…depending on w…w…what ores t…t…there are but you w…w…will be able to talk to each other."

"F-A-B, Brains," Scott replied. "We'll let you know when we're about to start the rescue operation."

"F-A-B, Scott," Brains answered. Scott smiled and then broke the connections to both Command and Control back on Tracy Island and Thunderbird Two. Then he stood up and headed back to the storage compartments at the rear of Thunderbird One's cockpit to get out his helmet and the complex piece of apparatus known as Mobile Control.

Jay Masuki gently pulled his terrified wife Alexandra into as comforting embrace as he could muster while they waited for the International Rescue man to emerge from the recently landed Thunderbird. Alexandra's normally calm features were streaked with tears as her exceptionally bright mind kept bringing up every possible scenario that could lead to the deaths of their boys.

"It will be alright dear," he said putting every ounce of reassurance he had into the statement. "International Rescue will rescue Chip and Danny from the mine, you'll see."

"What if they can't Jay," Alexandra asked her voice shaking with barely contained emotions. "What if there is a cave in? Our boys would…" her voice trailed off into a sob and she buried her head in Jay's chest sobbing softly.

"Don't think like that," Jay replied gently stroking Alexandra's long black hair in a reassuring manner. "International Rescue have pulled people out of far worse situations than the ones our reckless, adventurous kids have got themselves into."

"I hope you're right," Alexandra's voice muffled by his shirt replied. _So do I,_ Jay thought to himself glancing at Thunderbird One again, just in time to see a tall figure carrying what looked almost like a trunk case emerge from the machine. Even though his vision was sharp Jay couldn't make out precise details of the figure in the heat haze, though he could tell that the figure was coming right towards them and the two passing forestry workers whose helicopter had come to investigate when he'd set off an emergency flare to get their attention.

Scott walked up to the gathered people immediately being able to tell the parents from the forestry service personnel and not just by the lack of uniforms. The posture of the hugging parents screamed worried to him as would their body odours if he hadn't had his helmet on which reduced his sense of smell to a more normal range not the enhanced sense of smell he was used to as a werewolf.

As he reached the gathering beside the helicopter one of the forestry personnel smiled at him. Scott read the officer's nametag and inwardly smiled when he saw that the surname was Archer. _Man John's going to like seeing someone with that name,_ he thought to himself knowing that his immediately younger brother had been a Star Trek fan since he was a kid, mostly because it was set in deep space. John had been especially fond of Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise.

"Glad that you're here," the officer with the Archer nametag said. "Scott isn't it?"

"Yes," Scott replied knowing that Archer had read his uniform nametag, which gave his first name only. "Has there been any change in the situation in the mine?"

"No," Archer answered as Scott put down his case and opened it and took of first the stand for Mobile Control and started setting it up. "The mine is dangerously unstable though. I don't understand how those boys were able to rip away the boards over the entrance."

"How they got in there doesn't really matter now," Scott said as he put his case down and opened it before taking out the stand that he would set Mobile Control up on.

"True," Archer replied. "We just have to get them out of there. I can tell you that you're going to have your work cut out for you accomplishing that task. The kids are trapped by a partial collapse of the roof in the main tunnel. The tunnel is blocked by fallen beams and rock debris."

"Do you have any idea how far into the tunnel the collapse is," Scott asked as he finished setting up the stand and the seat, then started taking out the components of Mobile Control itself and setting them up.

"I cannot be sure but I think it's about twenty to twenty five metres into the main tunnel," Archer replied.

"I see," Scott answered. "It is going to be difficult but do not worry we will get those kids out of there."

"Will you," Jay asked trying but failing to keep the fear for the safety of his beloved sons out of his voice.

"Yes," Scott reassured the worried man. "We will."

**

* * *

Fifteen Minutes Later**

Scott looked up from Mobile Control as the familiar sound of Thunderbird Two's engines filled the air, the sound echoing oddly in the mountainous terrain of the Rockies. Spooked by the sudden noise flocks of local birds took to the skies crying out their agitation. The echoing made it difficult for Scott to pinpoint the source of the sound so instead he waited.

After a few moments Thunderbird Two appeared from behind a nearby peak the mighty green machine looking insignificant compared to the vast, untamed wilderness of the Rockies. Scott watched as she came in over the clearing and with screaming VTOL jets and gust of warm air, landed with an easy grace that belied her size next to Thunderbird One. _Right on time Virgil,_ he thought a few seconds before a warning buzzer sounded from the giant transport aircraft and she began to rise up on her powerful hydraulic legs, simultaneously lowering her primary pod bay into position to deploy. The buzzer cut off and for a moment nothing more happened then the pod bay door lowered and with a soft humming sound three hoversleds emerged from Thunderbird Two and headed in the direction of Mobile Control.

As his brothers closed on his position Scott smiled behind his helmet even as their approach triggered that strange sixth sense that all werewolves had, the sense that allowed them to tell another of their kind from normal humans. After a second the buzzing in his ears vanished as the three hoversleds pulled up in front of Mobile Control and Virgil, John and Gordon dismounted.

"Hi guys," Scott said in greeting.

"Hello Scott," Virgil replied. "What's the situation in the mine? Have you been able to work up a plan of action."

"The situation in the mine is very serious Virgil," Scott answered and carefully but concisely outlined the situation in the mine that Archer had told him. "Unfortunately I haven't really been able to come up with a plan of action. The residual ores in the rocks are really mucking up our scanners and they'll interfere with communications as well. I have spoken to Brains about it we will have to use signal boosters inside the mine placing them every ten metres to keep in half decent contact."

"Great," John commented mentally making a note to speak to Brains about it whenever they got home, provided it wasn't too late. There had to be something they could do to resolve that annoying problem with the sensors and the fact that certain metal ores caused them to go blind. He knew Brains had been working on the problem intermittently for the last month, though naturally the bulk of his attention was focused on remotely supervising the robots repairing and refitting Thunderbird Five.

"Indeed," Gordon agreed. "Looks like we're going to have to just eyeball this one though our equipment will easily get those boys out of there. I just hope they learn something from this, old mines are not places to play in."

"We can but hope," Virgil agreed. "But what are we waiting for? Let's go."

"Good luck in there guys keep in touch," Scott instructed.

"F-A-B, Scott," John, Virgil and Gordon answered almost in unison as they climbed back aboard their hoversleds and started their journey towards the abandoned mine. _Once those kids are out of there I'll see what I can do to seal the entrance with Thunderbird One's missiles,_ Scott thought, _be a whole lot safer than just boarding it back up._

* * *

John took the lead as the three hoversleds he and his brothers were riding moved into single file formation. Slowly he led the way into the mine and turned the lights on to see where they were going. In the darkness of the abandoned mine or any other mine, their natural ability to see perfectly in the dark was useless, in these places they needed artificial light to see where they were going, just like normal humans did.

John made sure that he kept his speed down to just above a crawl, the powerful beams from the hoversleds revealed that the main passage of the mine was in bad condition. There was debris from the roof everywhere and many of the support beams looked badly rotten and they could fall at anytime. Every now and again the beams emitted a worrying creaking sound and John faintly heard the sound of running water. _Looks like an underground stream or river has broken into the mine somewhere,_ John thought, _it would certainly explain why this place is so unstable._

"Man what an unpleasant place," Gordon said. "Am I imagining the sound of running water?"

"Not unless we all are," Virgil replied. "It's coming from below us as well. A river or stream must have broken into the mine. That would explain the collapse that has trapped those boys and why this place is so dangerously unstable."

"It would," John agreed slowing his hoversled to a stop. "We're at the first position point for the signal boosters. Who has the first signal booster unit?"

"I do," Gordon replied and stopped his hoversled before climbing off it and retrieving a small rectangular object from a rear storage compartment. Moving over to the side of the mine he carefully placed the signal booster in position and extended its small aerial and pressed a button on the side activating it. "Signal booster activated."

"F-A-B, Gordon," John replied. "John to Mobile Control can you hear us Scott."

"Yes I can John," Scott answered instantly. "The signals not fantastic but its ok. Proceed with the mission."

"F-A-B, Scott."

After another few moments they reached the two trapped children. They heard them before they saw them, both of them were whimpering from a mixture of pain and fear. The kids weren't immediately visible to them, hidden by an almost complete blockage of the mine tunnel. Only the very top of the tunnel was clear.

"Doesn't look too bad," Gordon commented. "We'll be able to get through this in short order."

"Hello," a high thin voice called from the other side of the blockage.

"Hello," John called back. "Don't be afraid we're here to get you out of there. What's your name?"

"Chip. Please mister help us, my brother Danny is hurt."

"Don't worry Chip," John replied reassuringly. "We're from International Rescue, we'll soon have you out of here." For a second there was silence from Chip, but from behind himself John heard Gordon and Virgil setting up the equipment they would be using to safely dissolve the debris and rescue the trapped boys. After a moment Chip spoke again awe in his voice.

"You guys really are Thunderbirds?"

"Yes we are," John replied. "Just sit tight Chip. We will have you out of there soon."

"Ok mister."

John moved away from where he was standing and looked at Gordon and Virgil to find that they had finished setting up the particle lance that they would be using to clear the debris. The device was a new invention of Brains designed to be used in these situations and was based on the same particle beam technology as the Thunderizer. Brains had only been able to miniaturise the components and beam generator very recently as his research into miniaturisation and nanotechnology began to play dividends. This was only the second time they would be using the particle lance in the field. So John was feeling a little nervous about using it.

"Are we ready guys," he asked.

"Ready John," Virgil replied.

"Okay then. Let's do this, activate the machine Virgil."

"F-A-B, John." Virgil reached out and pressed the control to activate the particle lance. Immediately there came a soft humming sound from the machine, the humming sound increased in pitch and power.

The tip of the particle lance began to glow with a reddish white light, and then a broad fan-like energy beam shot out of the device and hit the top of the fallen debris. Instantly the rocks and pebbles disintegrated, dissolving into oblivion under the power of the specifically modulated particle beam. The beam swept down the virtual mountain of rubble, in seconds it had all been eliminated, wiped away as if it had never been. Immediately the particle lance shut down and the mist created by the dissolving debris cleared. And there directly ahead were the two scared and dirty boys.

Both did not look to be in a very good way, aside from both being very dirty from the finer particulate dust and dirt that had been thrown up by the collapse, they were both injured. The older of the two had a small but nasty cut on his forehead with a line of dried blood running down the side of his head. The younger boy was sitting on the floor, cradling his right leg his dirty features awash with tears and contorted in pain. Without waiting for any signal John went forward with Gordon and accessed the injuries of Chip and Danny.

Surprisingly the boys were not too badly injured although both were understandably shaken up from what had happened to them. The worst injury was to Danny whose right leg was broken in two places with a degree of soft tissue damage in the surrounding muscle as well. Chip was hardly hurt beyond the minor cut on his forehead. Gently John cleaned the cut while Gordon put a splint on Danny's leg, the movements making Danny start crying again.

"Its okay Chip," John said when Chip started to move forward. "Gordon isn't hurting your brother. He's putting a splint on his leg so we can safely move him." Chip reluctantly nodded as John finished cleaning his cut. "There you go all done. We will get you both out of here and back to your parents shortly."

"Are they mad at us," Chip asked.

"More worried than anything else," John answered. "They'll be delighted just to have the pair of you back." Chip nodded obviously not convinced but John knew he was right, Chip and Danny's parents would be just happy that their boys were safe.

Any parents would be.

**

* * *

Mobile Control**

**Fifteen Minutes Later**

Scott watched from Mobile Control as Thunderbird Two lifted off the ground amid a scream of VTOL jets. Onboard her was his brothers, Chip and Danny and their mother Alexandra. She would be accompanying her two children to the hospital that Virgil would take them to in Denver before beginning the return flight to Tracy Island.

Scott smiled then turned his attention back to Mobile Control. With familiar motions he powered the unit down and began the task of disassembling it. He was almost done when someone cleared their throat behind him.

"Excuse me," Jay said from where he had walked up behind Scott. Scott paused in his task and turned to look at the father of the two boys they had just rescued.

"Yes sir?" Scott asked.

"I'm just about to leave with the forest service personnel," Jay replied offering his hand. "But before I go I wanted to thank you for pulling my sons out of the danger they got themselves into."

"Our pleasure," Scott answered taking the offered hand and shaking it. Jay was mildly surprised by the strength of Scott's grip but after a moment mentally shrugged it off, it made sense that Scott would be stronger than he looked. Given his line of work he would have to workout a lot to keep fit, Jay had to himself as he made his own living as a fireman in Denver. Jay released Scott's hand and lowered his arm.

"Are you going to do something about that mine," Jay asked. "Its dangerous how it is."

"Yes," Scott replied. "But just leave that to me. You go with the forest service personnel. When you return to claim your camper van you will fine the mine sealed for good." Jay nodded and walked away towards the waiting helicopter. Scott watched him go then returned his attention to disassembling Mobile Control.

**

* * *

Thunderbird One**

**Five Minutes Later**

Scott smiled as he brought Thunderbird One into a stationary hover over the now empty Danger Zone. The red nose cone at the front of the turboscram powered aircraft pointing right at the mine. _Time to seal the mine so no one else becomes trapped in there,_ Scott thought as he armed Thunderbird One's weapons systems. Cycling through his available ordinance Scott found the right missile to do the job, he locked onto the mine and fired.

A hatch opened on the underside of Thunderbird One and a small missile dropped clear before speeding towards the mine. It impacted the rock face just above the opening of the mine and detonated throwing up a massive cloud of dust, pulverised rock and smoke.

Scott waited until the cloud had cleared and smiled as he was that the mine entrance was gone, completely sealed off behind a landslide of rock and fallen trees. No one would ever get trapped in that old abandoned mine again. Scott smiled then moved Thunderbird One higher into the air and set course to rendezvous with Thunderbird Two over Denver, then they would begin the journey home to Tracy Island.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Tracy Island**

**An Hour Later**

A rumbling sound echoed around Tracy Island, echoing off the islands three extinct volcanic peaks to reverberate through the tropical forest and valleys of the island.

Hearing the sound Alan looked up towards the sky, though he couldn't see what was making the noise he knew what it was. The sound belonged to the engines of Thunderbirds One and Two. _They must have flown back together,_ he thought, _they weren't gone to long. That rescue whatever it was must not have taken very long at all._ He made a mental note to get the details of the rescue out of his brothers when he saw them in the morning, hopefully they wouldn't brush him off like what had happened in the past. Though to be fair to them they had been a lot nicer to him since spring break when he'd formerly joined International Rescue, and since his first transformation. Especially the latter, after that it had been as though he had crossed some invisible line that had been dividing them.

He looked over at where his father was sitting near the side of the small stream whose valley they were both exploring. The valley sides were quite steep, rugged and heavily overgrown with a variety of vegetation. To a human the valley would have been extremely challenging to get in and out of, but to a fully transformed werewolf it was no problem at all. The steep sides of the valley funnelled and amplified the sound of the approaching aircraft making it easily possible to determine the individual sounds. Not for the first time Alan noticed that the sound made by Thunderbird One's engines was considerably higher pitched than the sound Thunderbird Two's made.

"_There almost home,"_ Alan said telepathically to his father. "_That didn't take them long at all."_

"_About three hours in total. Must have been a relatively easy rescue with only the location being the obstacle,"_ Jeff agreed. "_We'll get the full details out of your brothers in the morning. They'll probably head to bed as soon as they land."_

"_Probably as it is around the time we normally all head off to bed. Though I'm not tired at the moment, but I guess that's because of what form I'm in and the effect of the full moon."_

"_Exactly right," _Jeff answered sending a mental smile image to Alan. "_That is always why it catches up with us when we change back into humans. So you ready to move on Alan?"_

"_Sure thing Dad,"_ Alan replied sending his own mental smile image to his father. Jeff emitted a playful growl then started running again; Alan followed his father running back into the forest.

**

* * *

Command and Control**

**Tracy Villa, Ten Minutes Later**

Brains smiled when he saw the lift alcoves open allowing four tired looking Tracy sons to step out into command and control. Normally matter how severe or minor the rescue the boys always seemed to be tired but in reasonably high spirits when they returned.

Yet this time they seemed to be more tired than anything, the normal high spirits weren't there. Brains had noticed it in the past; now that he thought about it was always on nights like this that they came back tired, nights when there was a full moon. _That has to have something to do with it,_ Brains thought, _maybe going from being in a place where the full moons shining to being in daylight and coming back again in the space of a few hours plays hell with there biology._ Given the many subtle differences in the biology between normal humans and werewolves Brains would not be at all surprised if that was the case.

"W…w…welcome back," he said in greeting. Scott looked at him and smiled.

"Thanks Brains," Scott answered. "Is everything secure on this end?"

"Yes the T…T…Thunderbirds are refuelling as we s…s…speak," Brains replied. "I will run post flight c…c…checks on t…t…them in the m…m…morning."

"That's fair enough Brains," John said smiling. "We're all tired. I would suggest that we all head to bed."

"That sounds wonderful," Gordon agreed. "I take it that aside from yourself Brains, Dad and Alan everyone has gone off to bed."

"Yes Gordon they h…h…have," Brains replied even as he stood up before hitting a control.

Immediately the room around them began to transform from the high tech control centre of International Rescue back into the personal office and inner sanctum of Jeff Tracy. In moments the change was complete and the room once again projected the image that Jeff wished to portray to any idle visitor to the island. That it was the office of a reclusive multi-billionaire and nothing else. _Like the Tracy's themselves,_ Brains thought with a mental smile. The parallel being the room's ability to change form and function and the Tracy's being werewolves was uncanny sometimes.

"Then lets go and join them," Scott said before turning around and leaving the room. One by one his brothers followed him out of the room.

Brains followed last, making sure to turn the light out behind him. He watched as the four Tracy boys disappeared in the direction of the wing of the villa complex that contained there bedrooms. _Goodnight,_ Brains thought with a smile before heading out of the villa, turning lights off behind him. It wasn't as if the Tracy's needed the lights on anyway they could see perfectly well without them.

Stepping out onto the sundeck, Brains took a deep breath inhaling the cooler, fresher air of the night. Then he yawned feeling the call of his bed, still yawning he made his way across the sundeck onto the well lit path that led away from the villa towards two chalets elsewhere on this particular mountain peak. Brains lived in one of them with Fermat; the other slightly larger chalet was inhabited by Kyrano and his family. They both preferred it that way as it gave them there own space away from the Tracy's and everyone else. Smiling at the prospect that he would soon be comfortable in bed Brains made his way along the path towards his home.

**

* * *

Scott's Room**

**Tracy Villa**

Scott didn't bother turning the lights on as he entered his room. It wasn't like he needed them to see what he was doing and they would only be an inconvenience when it came to turning the things off. After making sure he'd closed the door he went over to his bed and started to get out of his uniform.

As he slowly got undressed Scott glanced at the patio doors and the bright moonlight visible through them. He could feel it energising him to a degree and he felt the familiar instinct welling up inside, the familiar call to go out into the moonlight, to let its energy fill him and to transform into his werewolf form. Scott ignored the instinct though he could feel parts of the werewolf inside him coming towards the surface. _I wonder how Alan's doing,_ he thought as he finished getting out of his uniform, before shrugging off his underwear.

"I wonder where Dad's taken him," Scott said to himself, his voice becoming inhumanly deep, the words more growled than spoken. Simultaneously his eyes changed from there normal blue to the warm amber eyes of a werewolf. Scott knew what was happening to him, it always happened to them on a full moon night when they were about to go to bed. Holding up an arm Scott watched as the muscles there rippled and before his eyes almost double in size, simultaneously he felt himself grow slightly in height, felt his ears alter shape slightly so they became more triangular and poked through his hair which rapidly turned into fur, finally a familiar tingling raced down his spine and a line of dark brown fur appeared.

Now looking slightly less human, though not quite transformed into a werewolf Scott sighed, which came out more as a low growl than a human sigh, went over to the curtains in front of the patio doors and closed them. Then he returned to his bed and climbed in, feeling a slight static tingle down his spine where his fur met the bed sheet and on his head where the fur that had just replaced his hair met the pillow case.

For a few moments Scott lay there in bed, amber eyes looking up at the ceiling, thinking about his youngest brother. Part of him wanted to go out into the night, transform completely and go find him to see how he was. But another part of him was urging him to just close his eyes and go to sleep, arguing that Alan was alright and in good hands so he shouldn't worry. The conflicting sides raged in Scott's soul for a moment before Scott sighed again, the urge to sleep was to strong. Slowly his eyes drifted closed and his breathing became quiet and even as he surrendered to the inevitable and fell asleep.

**

* * *

Four Hours Later**

The faint sounds of someone moving about outside, and the feel of another werewolf being close by, roused Scott out of his sleep. _Whose up at this time of night,_ he sleep fogged brain wondered for a moment before he twigged what time it was. The absence of silvery light coming in through the patio doors and the feel that he once again appeared fully human told Scott that the full moon was gone, had vanished over the horizon taking its liberating influence with it.

Throwing the bedclothes off Scott eased out of bed, grabbed his dressing gown and put it on before moving to the door. Opening the door he stepped out and the buzzing in his ears and tingling in his head that signalled another werewolf was close vanished as he saw them. His father and youngest brother moving slowly along the hallway towards their rooms, their posture signalling their exhaustion.

"What are you doing up Scott," Jeff asked spotting his oldest son immediately.

"Nothing Dad," Scott replied. "I was only sleeping lightly and felt you coming."

Jeff nodded he had expected that. Tired from a rescue in a place a few time zones removed from the island or not Scott would still worry about Alan and not sleep properly until he was sure he was alright.

"So how did it go," Scott asked moving over to join them.

"I failed," Alan said looking down at the floor glumly. Jeff was about to reply but Scott got there first gently putting a hand under Alan's chin and forcing Alan to look up at him.

"You tried though squirt," Scott said. "It's a very hard thing to learn, none of us ever got it right the first time. Not even me."

"In fact Scott here was harder to teach than any of you," Jeff added grinning remembering how difficult it had been to teach Scott how to control the transformation. Part of that had been due to Jeff's own lack of experience at teaching something that he had by then been doing for years really without thinking about it. The rest though had been the fact that Scott had been an even more rebellious and strong minded teenager than Alan, a teenager who'd liked the fact that he turned into a giant, awesomely strong humanoid wolf, and hadn't wanted to learn how to control the change. At least not the first month that Jeff had endeavoured to teach him.

"Really," Alan asked.

"Yes really I was a pain for Dad to teach," Scott replied. "I'll tell you about it fully again squirt, but suffice to say I was not the most model student in the world." Alan grinned feeling slightly better at finding out that even Scott – Mr Perfect himself – had had difficulty learning to control his transformation. Though Alan also clearly heard the inference that at first Scott hadn't wanted to learn, it would be interesting to find out exactly what Scott meant by that. But as Scott had said that was a conversation for another time. Alan yawned at that moment feeling sleep pulling at him again.

"Come on boys lets get into bed," Jeff said. "You can talk about all this in the morning."

"F-A-B, Dad," Scott and Alan said in almost unison. Jeff chuckled and then made a gesture that told his oldest and youngest sons to get a move on, which they did both heading towards Alan's room. Jeff shook his head and made his way towards his own bedroom knowing full well that both boys would be okay.

* * *

Alan led the way into his room and immediately started to get out of his clothes for the second time tonight. He had only put them on loosely when he'd changed back into his human form after the full moon disappeared. He glanced over at Scott as he took off his shirt and got started on his jeans.

"You don't have to stay Scott," he said. "I don't need anyone to tuck me into bed anymore."

"I know," Scott replied watching as Alan got out of his clothes. "I just want to be sure your okay. Don't be disappointed that you didn't control your change tonight Alan, you tried that's all anyone can ask of you."

"I wish I didn't have to learn it," Alan admitted as he slipped off his jeans before getting started on his underwear.

"We all wish that one squirt," Scott replied. "But it's a must for our kind in the modern world, we can't transform every time there is a full moon anymore. As nice as that would be."

"Tell me about it. It's just so hard."

"I know but you can do is squirt." Alan smiled as he finished taking off his underwear and climbed into bed. The absolute certainty in Scott's voice really made him feel that he would be able to do it, would be able to control his instinct to transform.

"Thanks Scott."

"You're welcome," Scott replied moving up to the side of the bed and putting the bedclothes over his brother. "Go to sleep now Alan we'll talk in the morning. Whatever time we all get up." Alan nodded even as he yawned expressively, before making himself comfortable and closing his eyes.

Scott watched as his little brother drifted off into a deep restful sleep with no sign of any stress at all. After a moment Scott left the room to return to bed himself. _Alan will soon learn what Dad is trying to teach him,_ he thought returning to his own bed and shrugging off his dressing gown. He knew his little brother; Alan would be determined to learn control over his werewolf transformation just to prove that he could do it. Like the rest of them there was no real barrier to what Alan could accomplish when he put his mind to it.

Slowly Scott closed his eyes and in moments was once more asleep. Asleep and dreaming about being in werewolf form and running through the woods under the silvery light of the full moon.


End file.
